Richb Posted December 9, 2010 #1 Share Posted December 9, 2010 (edited) Can you identify these prints? Photographed on ice and snow adjacent to stone building at the dis-used Langtang airstrip, Nepal in February 2008, (heading towards Langshisha). Trekking pole for scale (prints are not huge by any means) Quite possibly the hind prints of a bear, although this is still not convincing. see http://icwdm.org/wildlife/bears.asp Possibly a bear, but this is probably the same animal's footprints as photographed by Shipton in 1951 in Gauri Shankar range (image also attached with ice axe for scale). The line footprints were broken and seemed to be about 20m start to finish on an iced over stream. No other trace could be found. This seemed to be the best print least affected by sun and wind. Well defined toes. Not a leopard? Not a wolf? which I did see nearby This was early February and there simply were not many people about. Perhaps a few sherpas running lodges and five or so trekkers in Kyangjim. There was noone higher in the valley. It had snowed within the last 24 hours including overnight and these prints were seen by about 9am in the morning. This wasn't a prank I am sure. Only one canadian guy and myself went up the valley that day. So its not a wolf, it IS POSSIBLY a bear, and its not a leopard, and it is more than likely not human... I would not expect to find a bear above the snow line, but this a possibility. I understand that the Tibetan(Blue) Bear (a rare species of Brown Bear) could possibly be present in this area. Any thoughts? Edited December 9, 2010 by Richb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ell Posted December 9, 2010 #2 Share Posted December 9, 2010 Can you identify these prints? Any thoughts? I have no idea of the scale, nor do I have knowledge about (bear) tracks. Could they have been made by birds? Or perhaps they are a prank or hoax. Without an unknown animal attached to the tracks, I see no reason to consider them remarkable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mule Posted December 9, 2010 #3 Share Posted December 9, 2010 also snow melts, deforms. You cannot with 100% accuracy identify ANY tracks made in snow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrunkDwarf Posted December 9, 2010 #4 Share Posted December 9, 2010 also snow melts, deforms. You cannot with 100% accuracy identify ANY tracks made in snow. Agreed, these marks could've been made by near anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocketgirl33 Posted December 9, 2010 #5 Share Posted December 9, 2010 If my memeory seves me corectly, I have seen these pictures before. How old are the pics? I think this was never fully identified. Rocketgirl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rafterman Posted December 9, 2010 #6 Share Posted December 9, 2010 also snow melts, deforms. You cannot with 100% accuracy identify ANY tracks made in snow. What Mule said. On a sunny day, I've seen my collie's tracks tranform into what looks like tracks from a much larger animal in a matter of hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richb Posted December 10, 2010 Author #7 Share Posted December 10, 2010 For the purposes of scale, the tip of the trekking pole measures approx 50mm diameter. So the prints are say 200mm in length - Not large, but that is not the point, and approximately suitable for a bear of the region. Yes snow melts... ... No the tracks are not made by birds... ... No it is not a prank...there were only two persons in the upper valley that I am aware of at the time, and I am one of them. ... The tracks are not considered remarkable..., if not then neither are the 1951 Shipton photographs, considered to be the most important images of their kind. ... The tracks are fresh and there is little melt distortion in the particular print of the photographed image which is reasonably well defined. Yes, some of the other prints were distorted due to wind. Since snowfall there was perhaps 1.5 hours(at the most) sun exposure within the valley. ... Also the separated big toe is significant, be it bear of other mammal. The question was can you identify these prints? Please resist the temptation to reply if you have no knowledge of the subject. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xYlvax Posted December 10, 2010 #8 Share Posted December 10, 2010 Nothing paranormal, imo. As the above stated, melting snow deforms the real shape of the tracks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j b Posted December 10, 2010 #9 Share Posted December 10, 2010 if you google "polar bear" tracks and compare the two, you will see similarities... this is considering the deformation the tracks probably went through before the photos were taken. i do not believe polar bears are in the Himalaya's but the point im trying to make is that its a bear track... not a yeti Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supervike Posted December 10, 2010 #10 Share Posted December 10, 2010 Please resist the temptation to reply if you have no knowledge of the subject. You do realize this is a discussion board? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonathanVonErich Posted December 10, 2010 #11 Share Posted December 10, 2010 I think Mule said it all. It would be really cool to say these prints were made by a Yeti but sadly the evidences are not there... Again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richb Posted December 11, 2010 Author #12 Share Posted December 11, 2010 if you google "polar bear" tracks and compare the two, you will see similarities... this is considering the deformation the tracks probably went through before the photos were taken. i do not believe polar bears are in the Himalaya's but the point im trying to make is that its a bear track... not a yeti Thank you jb for a sensible answer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belial Posted December 11, 2010 #13 Share Posted December 11, 2010 Lol My link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.United_Nations Posted December 11, 2010 #14 Share Posted December 11, 2010 Thank you jb for a sensible answer Hmpf..dont tell me your guan do a runner? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clobhair-cean Posted December 11, 2010 #15 Share Posted December 11, 2010 The middle one is pretty much certainly fake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paville Posted December 29, 2010 #16 Share Posted December 29, 2010 Nothing paranormal, imo. As the above stated, melting snow deforms the real shape of the tracks. Yea nice post. The middle one is pretty much certainly fake. .. how did you come to that conclusion? lol. I've been lurking um for a fair while now, i think original content such as this is much more valuable than 85% of what is usually posted. And RichB is most definitely not getting his 2cents. One thing I noticed RichB is that your prints look as if more weight is distributed towards the 'toes' compared to the original. Could be just the snow. Shame you didn't take any photos of straight tracks so we could guage whether it walks on 2s or 4s and how big it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clobhair-cean Posted December 29, 2010 #17 Share Posted December 29, 2010 .. how did you come to that conclusion? lol. Try the link. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vitruvian12 Posted December 29, 2010 #18 Share Posted December 29, 2010 Im confused. Are you actually claiming the middle pic to be yours? Why would you use what is probably the most well know yeti print picture and say that its yours? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mac E Posted December 29, 2010 #19 Share Posted December 29, 2010 You know how mice make trails under the snow and then the snow melts, it can look like many different things. These "tracks" remind me of melted snow over mice tunnels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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